Stolen
by absolutelyfabx3
Summary: "you left me alone, with nothing. this is all your fault!" an eclare story.
1. starting over

I slid my fingers over the plastic of the security tag. I didn't know exactly why I was doing this. It was a stupid piece of denim that I didn't want anyways. I felt my pulse quicken as I glanced at the door.

_'now or never…'_

I walked towards the door, a pair of jeans hidden discretely in my jacket. I think I was having an adrenaline rush. or a heart attack, either one. As I passed through the door alarms, the high pitched screeching of the alarm blasted in my ears. A grin stretched wide and proud on my face. I started sprinting, as fast as humanly possible to the shiny blue car waiting in the parking lot that belonged to my best friend, Alli Bandhari. I heard the running footsteps behind me, the distant police sirens, and the screams telling me to stop. The old, innocent Clare would have obeyed. But not me. Not the new, dangerous Clare. I leapt forward into the open door of the car, and Alli slammed on the gas. I was practically panting from the run. But..I laughed. I laughed so hard, you know, the kind of laughing that makes your ribs hurt. The one where you're moving, smiling, taking on all the motions of laughter, but there's no sound coming out. I felt exhilarated, free. That was my first act of crime. All because of him. Because he left me. As I clutched the hunk of denim in my hand, I knew this would be an act I would practice.

* * *

**2 weeks earlier.**

_I was sliding across the floor of degrassi, my heels slipping out from under me. I spotted Eli walking, slamming himself against lockers. I ran towards him, pulling on his shoulder. _

_"come with me, Fitz has a knife."_

_I tugged at his arm, but he wasn't moving. I looked at him, confusion in my eyes._

_"this is where we run! let's go!"_

_Eli stared past me and still did not move._

_"i'm not gonna let that jerk scare me…"_

_I was furious now, why was he acting like some tough guy!_

_"eli, he has a knife!"_

_I heard the sound of metal scraping metal. My heart stopped, i'm sure of it. _

_"aw..don't you two look cute?"_

_I turned around and saw Fitz walking slowly through the dark, the knife he was carrying gleaming in the moonlight that was streaming through the windows. I stuttered._

_"y-you should go."_

_"and let pretty boy make time with my date?"_

_I was sweating, and I felt like my heart would fly out of my mouth any second._

_"please, Fitz..don't do this.."_

_I was pleading..I didn't know what else to do._

_"shut up bitch!"_

_Fitz spat out and I was stunned. I felt Eli push me away from him towards the opposite side of the lockers and I heard him murmur._

_"get away from me."_

_Eli looked up as Fitz continued to step towards him._

_"look, i'm sorry about before..about everything. You win."_

_Fitz stepped directly in front of Eli and I felt a whimper slip through my lips. Fitz laughed slightly._

_"i've heard that before."_

_"stop. i'm serious."_

_Fitz pushed Eli back slightly and stepped towards him again._

_"you've had this comin' for a while."_

_Silence._

_"what's wrong emo boy? out of smartass comments?"_

_Fitz pushed Eli once more. Eli spoke out, barely audible._

_"please. don't do this."_

_"something's gotta shut you up."_

_Fitz pulled his hand back and slammed the knife forward. My heart instantly left my throat and flew down probably somewhere in my intestines. A scream erupted from my stomach and I ran forward as Eli slid to the ground. Fitz laughed and I slid down onto the ground, reaching for Eli. I looked up and saw the knife stuck into the wall. Everything else was a blur of color. The police came in shouting orders, and Fitz got taken away. _

I rolled over, my eyes peeled open wide with fear. I wondered what Eli was doing. Where he was…what he was thinking about. I had left things so open."

_"but if this is it…I can't be with you…"_

I didn't know where we stood anymore, and it was driving my crazy. I pushed the covers off of me, and I stood up out of bed. I grabbed my laptop off of my desk, and brought it over to my bed. As I sat back down I opened my laptop and clicked open a new internet tab. I typed in and quickly scrolled through my online friends.

'-Eli Goldsworthy is now online!'

I quickly clicked on his name and typed into the chat window.

**clare-e23: Eli! hi! i'm glad you're online. I think we need to talk about some things.**

I hit the enter key, and my entire face dropped as I got a reply.

***eli-gold49 is now offline**

I slammed my laptop shut. I was leaving tomorrow for my grandparents house for a week. I needed to talk to Eli. I reached for my phone on the nightstand next to me. I slid it open, quickly starting a new text to Eli.

**'eli i am leaving tomorrow and i really need to talk to you.'**

I hit send and laid back onto my pillow. I clutched my phone, staring at the screen waiting for it to light up with a new message. I must have stayed like that for hours, just waiting and waiting. I glanced at my alarm clock one more before my eyes drooped shut. 4:57 am.

* * *

My eyes snapped open as my body lurched forward, caused by the loud ringing in my ear. I slammed down the snooze button on my alarm clock and scrambled around, throwing my blankets everywhere looking for my phone. When I finally managed to unwrap it from all of my tangled sheets, i found nothing from Eli. I decided to try and call him. I held the phone up to my ear and counted the rings. Finally I hung up, losing most hope of seeing him before I left. I quickly texted him, once again. I really didn't care if I was being annoying.

**'eli if you could just come to my house for even 5 minutes before I leave at 2, it would make me feel so much better.'**

I set my phone down as I got dressed. I grabbed a muffin and sat out on my front steps, with my phone in hand. I was convinced that if Eli cared at all about us, he would show up. I sat out there for 3 hours doing nothing but waiting. My mom came out through the front doors, struggling to carry all of my bags. I grabbed a few from her, shoving them into the backseat of the car. I climbed in next to all of my bags. That was it. My mom backed the car out of the driveway. Eli just didn't care anymore.

* * *

I texted and called Eli several times each day during the week I was gone, but all went unanswered. I was obviously starting to get worried but a part of me knew he was fine, he was just avoiding me. We couldn't just leave things as they were. I was miserable, and just to make myself feel better, I told myself he was miserable without me too. As I loaded up my mom's car once again with all of my bags, I felt comfort in the fact that we had school tomorrow. Eli couldn't avoid me forever, we were english partners.

* * *

We finally got back home around 11 pm. I was exhausted, but as I pushed the front door open I found a large box. I opened it up to find a large handbook, full of the new degrassi rules, and a pile of ugly polos, skirts, and khaki pants. I don't know why I hated these uniforms so much. I usually didn't mind dress codes. I mean, I was the girl who wore my private school uniform for months through grade 9. Something about these uniforms though, made me really dislike them. I bet Eli wouldn't like these at all. ugh, eli. I had to get him out of my head. I picked up the box and trudged up to my room. I changed into some pajama pants and a t-shirt before leaning against my headboard, skimming through the contents of the new handbook. Of course I couldn't concentrate with the thought of Eli floating around in my head.

* * *

_I leaned against the passenger side of Eli's hearse, poking my head through the window._

_"thanks for returning my calls…"_

_I waited for Eli to respond, but there was nothing but the sound of his music blaring loudly._

_"can we talk?"_

_Eli sat up straight in the driver's seat._

_"no thank you."_

_He stood up, walking around to the open hood of his car. I walked over to the hood also, facing Eli._

_"well, it's happening. okay, the other day…that wasn't just a kiss for the film."_

_I again, waited for Eli's response. Once again, nothing._

_"there's something between us Eli, and I know it."_

_Eli shook his head._

_"you're wrong."_

_I walked around to the side of the car Eli was on._

_"i'm not stupid. okay, either you like me, or you're a sociopath who likes to jerk people around and hurt them, and I know it's not the latter."_

_Eli looked up at me, his facial expression not changing._

_"..or is it..?"_

_Eli's eyes burned into mine. _

_"i'm sorry I led you on."_

_His facial expression was still the same, and he looked back down into the hood of his car._

_"…wow."_

_I walked away and grabbed my bike, walking away from Eli._

_I looked out the passenger side of Eli's hearse and then looked back at him._

_"oh, I get it…this is the part here you uh, ditch me, and I have to find my own way back home, because this is gonna be the funniest joke ever…you're messed Eli."_

_Eli's gaze stayed fixed on the road even though we weren't moving._

_"you're right…i am."_

_He finally turned his head towards me and continued,_

_"I can't just be friends with you Clare…I like you too much. But I can't be with you, I don't deserve to! It's just…this is where I killed my girlfriend."_

_My expression changed from confused to bewildered. My eyes grew twice their size and I struggled to speak._

_"e-excuse me?"_

_Eli sighed and continued._

_"last year, we had a fight, it got messy. I said things I shouldn't have…she was really upset…took off on her bike in the night…got hit by a car."_

_My expression softened, the news sinking in._

_"I am so sorry…"_

_Eli looked out the windshield._

_"just like that, the closest person in my life was gone…because of me."_

_I shook my head slightly._

_"I had no idea."_

_Eli looked back over at me, locking eyes with mine._

_"it's not fair…why should I get to be happy?"_

_Simpson walked away and I turned to Eli, clearly scared out of my brain. Eli smirked, just like always._

_"justice has been served."_

_"if fitz finds out.."_

_Eli cut me off, also just like always._

_"i'll handle it. now let's talk about something more important, like how you're gonna thank me for throwing simpson off your scent."_

_Eli walked towards me and I backed up, just to be stopped by my back making contact with a wall._

_"what did you have in mind?"_

_I tried to smirk, knowing it didn't come off anything like Eli's. This caused him to smirk, which caused my insides to melt._

_"well…I don't know…"_

_Eli leaned forward, and in seconds our lips made contact. My head was spinning. I didn't know where the ground was, how to breathe, or even what air was. He pulled away, leaving me breathless, practically panting._

_"I have a french exam."_

_I tried to think of something witty._

_"i think you just…passed it…"_

_clearly, I failed at that attempt._

_I saw Eli at his open locker, standing alone. I smiled and walked towards him, leaning against the lockers surrounding his._

_"how was your french exam?"_

_Eli smirked. Obviously leaving me breathless._

_"way too long.."_

_Eli leaned down towards me and my breath hitched in my throat. He stopped and I mentally yelled at myself for thinking of a question right at this moment._

_"so..does this mean I have a date to vegas night?"_

_Eli shrugged and looked at me, standing up straight._

_"depends. do we get a corsage?"_

_Eli snickered and leaned in once again. We were nearly in contact as a hand flew into a locker causing a loud bang. I jumped as Eli turned around coming face to face with Fitz._

_"just spent an hour in Simpson's office, someone told him I set off the stink bomb."_

_Eli shrugged and put on an innocent face._

_"me and my loose lips.."_

_Fitz wrapped his arms around Eli's neck, grabbing him into a headlock. Luckily a teacher walked by and stared Fitz down before he could cause any serious damage to Eli._

_"this isn't over."_

_Fitz and his groupies walked away, leaving me pleased. Eli turned towards me, all signs of happiness gone from his face._

_"dude's a menace. someone needs to teach him a lesson."_

_"cause that worked so well last time. can't you two just kiss and makeup?"_

_I knew my pleading would do nothing with Eli, but I could try._

_"he's not really my type."_

_Eli smirked, clearly joking around._

_"i'm serious eli. someone is gonna get hurt."_

_"the only way to avoid a bully is to keep him scared."_

_"or…you could…lay low with your girlfriend?"_

_As soon as the word girlfriend slipped from my lips I immediately wanted to take it back. I didn't know where we stood. That was so wrong._

_" twist my rubber arm.."_

_Eli smirked and continued._

_"girlfriend."_

_I wanted to jump for joy, scream from rooftops. Instead, I just grabbed Eli's arm, and wrapped it around my shoulders as I slid my arm around his waist as we walked down the hall._

_I looked down at the book in my lap as I leaned against a locker waiting for Eli. I was sitting next to Adam who was talking, but I didn't really think I was listening. I looked up when I heard a familiar voice._

_"okay, please tell me an ostrich started world war one."_

_I looked up at him, my lips closed tightly. He had a confused look on his face._

_"…spit it out edwards."_

_I stood up and started rambling about something, anything._

_"well, you know…i-it's funny that you should mention world war one, because well, many say that the-the revenge en-enacted by the league of nations on germany post war was responsible for the outbreak o-of world war two…"_

_I fiddled with my hands, and tried to avoid making eye contact with Eli. Eli looked down at Adam, still a confused look on his face._

_"what is she talking about?"_

_Adam stood up._

_"Clare is going to vegas night with Fitz."_

_I looked towards Adam, trying to sound angry, or stern._

_"Adam!"_

_Adam shrugged and looked at me._

_"it's better to just RIP the bandage off!"_

_Adam walked away and Eli looked over at me, his eyes wide._

_"i'm waiting for the punch line."_

_I looked up at him, suddenly nervous._

_"Fitz promised to leave you alone if I went to vegas night with him."_

_Eli seemed stunned._

_"and you said yes!"_

_I nodded slowly as I talked._

_"i want this stupid feud to be over, and if I go with Fitz tonight I think I can make that happen."_

_Eli smiled, at least I think it was a smile._

_"suppose crazier things have happened."_

_I smiled, relieved._

_"so you're not mad?"_

_I asked hopefully. He smirked._

_"just a little bit."_

_I was getting ready for vegas night and Eli showed up. He wanted me to talk outside. I followed him out the door and walked out to his hearse. Eli held up a pill bottle._

_"it's ipapac. makes people barf."_

_I was confused._

_"most guys just buy flowers…"_

_"I want you to slip it in fitz's drink."_

_I couldn't believe this._

_"what happened to being the bigger man?"_

_"can't. not anymore."_

_"because?"_

_"don't be naive Fitz is a bad guy. He wants to have sex with you."_

_I was livid at this point. I was being naive!_

_"oh! then you're right. the appropriate response is to poison him!"_

_"I told you, this is how you control bullies, keep 'em scared."_

_why was eli doing this? he was being stupid._

_"do you know who also uses those tactics? terrorists."_

_Eli scoffed._

_"I don't understand, who's side are you on?"_

_I shook my head._

_"i'm not sure, but i know it's not the side that poison's people."_

_I walked away from Eli, and slammed the door, leaving him standing outside alone._

_The blue and red lights were shining on my face as I walked down the steps of degrassi next to Eli._

_"when I was nine, there was this kid, Mike. His hobby was beating me up. Didn't matter how fast I ran, he was always faster."_

_I wiped tears off of my cheek and sniffled._

_"you're not nine anymore."_

_"well neither are the bullies, so what am I supposed to do?"_

_I searched for an answer, but I didn't have one._

_"I don't have the answer. But, if it's this…I can't be with you."_

_It pained me to say those five words._

_'i can't be with you…'_

_'can't be with you….'_

_

* * *

_My eyes snapped open. My face was damp with tears. I looked over at the clock. It was already 5 am. I decided to just get up now, there was no sense in going back to bed just to dream about Eli. I took a long time to put on my uniform, consisting of a purple polo and a long khaki skirt. I pinned my hair back, trying to think of anything but Eli. I sat around doing basically nothing until 6:30. I decided to leave a little earlier, realizing that riding my bike in a skirt might be quite challenging. After a good 20 minutes of biking across town while pulling my skirt down, I finally got to the degrassi parking lot. I pushed my bike across the parking lot. I pushed my bike across the parking lot and waved to Alli when I spotted her. As I locked my bike up I looked up the stairs to degrassi. Kids were holding out their bags, allowing police officers to rummage through them. There were metal detectors in every doorway and there were lines of kids waiting to walk through them. I could see police officers patrolling through the hallways. I turned to Alli.

"it's like we're living in a police state…"

It was hard for me to believe that one little incident caused all of this. I think more happened than most people saw. I walked up the stairs, scanning the parking lot out of the corner of my eye. There it was, the more than familiar black hearse, belonging to Eli Goldsworthy. My insides tingled and I giggled, all hope of us being together again flooding into my brain. I held my bag open allowing the officer to search through it. All feelings of disgust towards degrassi vanished as I stepped through the metal detector, Eli taking over my mind. I glanced around the school hallways. There was Adam, his beanie being pulled off of his head by an officer.

"Ada-"

I stopped yelling mid-sentence as I saw a boy trailing behind Adam. A boy in a red polo, black lining his fingers, a ring sitting on his thumb, and a mop of beautiful, black hair. A grin spread across my face.

"Eli!"

He turned around his smile fading from his face, mine plastered in place.

"…clare…."

* * *

**i'm baaaack!(: here's my new story guys. no new characters, just eclare!(: please review, i'm super excited about this story! this chapter is so long though, so sorry about that! i just had so many ideasss. oh, & the italic's are basically just clare's thoughts or dreams. (: just so you know :D**


	2. i'll get over you

**thanks so much for the reviews, fags, & alerts (: sorry it's taken so long to get the next chapter. i figured i should do a pov of eli so we could see what was going through his head & why he wasn't talking to clare (:**

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* * *

**I couldn't sleep at night. Three things took over my mind every minute, of every day. The events of Vegas Night, my life flashing before my eyes, and Clare. I wondered how long my mind would be crowded with these thoughts. It's often said that traumatic events stay with you your entire life. I guess that's understandable. I still remembered every moment of the day Julia died. That was definitely a traumatic day. I could live with seeing the image of a knife plunging towards me, but I didn't want Clare's face flooding my mind for the rest of my life. It's not that she isn't beautiful, or I don't want to see her, it's the opposite of that. It's the fact that she doesn't want me, and i'm hung up on her. It hurts too much. Besides, Clare isn't any sort of traumatic event. Unless my heart being shattered into a million pieces counts as traumatic. I sat in front of my computer, with facerange open in a tab. I glanced over Clare's profile. I knew this wasn't really helping my whole 'forget about Clare' thing, but I couldn't help myself. I wasn't going to be in contact with Clare for a week. I needed to see her in some form, even if it was just pictures. I sat there for a while. My mind went numb. It felt nice to have a break from the constant noise and images in my head. My perfect moment vanished quickly when my computer made a sudden popping noise. I looked up to read whatever annoying message someone was sending me. My heart stopped. I must have stopped breathing judging from the dizziness that was making my head spin around.

**clare-e23.**

I didn't bother to read her message. I just read her name over and over again. My fingers inched towards the keyboard, eager to write a stupid, witty remark to whatever she had sent. My body wasn't in sync with my mind. I was mentally screaming to my hands to stay still so I could think clearly. Suddenly my hand lurched forward onto the mouse, and my finger rapidly clicked away, searching fro the 'x' button. As the i.m window closed, I decided right then, if I wanted to keep my sanity and not drive my head into a wall, I was going to quit Clare.

* * *

I laid in bed staring at the ceiling. I was being stupid, unreasonable. All she did was break my heart, I should still be talking to her. It wasn't a big deal...

_"but if it's this…I can't be with you."_

Those words were always echoing in my mind, reminding me of my mistakes. Why hadn't I changed? Why hadn't I listened to Clare? If I had, I wouldn't be sitting here asking myself these questions. Instead, I could be having all night conversations with Clare. My thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of my vibrating phone next to my head. I reached over for it, and read the screen.

**1 incoming text message: Clare.**

**accept? decline?**

Once again, my body was not in sync with my mind. I was telling myself to answer it. I could fix everything, win her back. Instead, my finger inched forward and hit decline. I didn't understand why I was doing this. I was throwing away my chances. I held my phone in my hand for hours, hoping Clare would text me again. She obviously wanted to talk to me too, maybe to fix things. I stayed awake clutching my phone all night, still waiting for Clare. I knew she was probably sleeping, because she was normal. Finally, around 8 am my phone lit up again. Here was my chance. She was calling me. My throat went dry and my palms were sweating. I was nervous…I didn't want to talk to her..I mean, I did, but I didn't want to physically speak to her..not now…my finger slammed down on the ignore button. I blew it, again. I was filled with rage. I slammed the phone down on my bed and reached up, placing my head in my hands.

"damnit!"

After angrily sitting there for a while, I decided not to torture myself. I left my phone lay there and I trudged out of my room to get some food. I had to accept the fact that I was ignoring Clare. After a few hours of eating, watching tv, and basically moping, I went back to my room. I put my phone in a drawer, and that is where it would stay for the week. I wasn't going to look at it again. I was going to get over Clare, I really was.

* * *

The next week went by incredibly slow. I was doing alright though. I had managed to limit my time thinking about Clare, but the pain still didn't ease up. Everyday, in the back of my mind, I knew I would see Clare at school and all of my hard work would be put to waste. I managed to make myself believe that Clare would transfer and she wouldn't come back. Although this idea appealed to me, and would make things much simpler, I knew it would be heartbreaking to never be able to look at her again, or make her blush, or prove her wrong again, and a small part of me was happy that I wouldn't have to deal with losing her in that way. By the night before school, I wasn't even thinking about Clare. It was hard, but I managed to fill my mind with other things. The package finally arrived from the school, containing the uniforms and new rules. I wasn't particularly fond of the uniforms, but at this point, I just didn't care anymore. I was numb. I didn't have feelings.

* * *

I kept my phone tucked away in it's drawer as I got dressed for school. Finally, I decided to just leave it there. I grabbed my backpack and an apple from the counter on my way out. I climbed into Morty, my hearse, and was relieved that he turned on and ran so smoothly, even though I left him sitting there untouched for a week. I got to school early and parked as far away from the doors as possible. I found Adam standing by the doors. I was, well, dumbfounded basically. It didn't even look like a school anymore, it was more like a prison. I allowed an officer to search through my bag and I passed through the metal detectors. I walked through the halls with Adam, and snickered as his hat got picked off his head. I hadn't seen Clare yet, and I was beginning to think my made up theory was correct. That was, until I heard her screaming for me from across the hall. I turned around and my eyes locked with hers. Every memory of us came flooding back into my head. I saw her as she dropped her glasses under my car. I saw her scream in the middle of a group of strangers. I saw her reading about her personal family issues. I saw her concerned after Fitz and I fought. I saw her before I kissed her for our english project. I saw her confronting me about our feelings for each other, and I saw myself denying them and her walking away. I saw her face light up when I admitted my feelings and I saw it fall as I fought with Fitz again. I saw her worrying about Simpson finding out about the stinkbomb, and I saw her relieved when I covered for her. I saw her before I kissed her, for real this time. I could practically feel our kiss in the library. I saw her excitement when I referred to her as my girlfriend, and her disappointment when I planned to poison Fitz. I saw her relief when I apologized to Fitz, and her angry, hurt face when I still poisoned him. I saw her frantically searching for me when Fitz had the knife, and I saw her crying as Fitz pushed the knife towards me. I saw her realize I wasn't hurt, and how scared she looked. But then I saw her most hurt, disappointed, scared and confused face as she said she couldn't be with me. I just realized that she wasn't trying to hurt me by staying away from me, she was trying to protect herself. And my heart broke all over again. I had felt my smile disappear, and I breathed out a weak response.

"…clare…"

* * *

**the next chapter will be better, we'll actually get into the story & what's going to happen with clare & eli (:**

**please review :D**


	3. lie to me

**sorry for the lack of updates guys, i've been reeeeally busy. but i'm going to be updating, i promise! i'm writing a lot of chapters in study hall (:**

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* * *

**Everything was different now. I could see it in the way he looked at me. I could feel it. There was tension. So much had changed, in just a week. I didn't understand what I had done that was so wrong. Couldn't we at least be friends? We had something so great. I didn't know why he wanted to throw that away. I didn't know what to do. I hadn't thought about what I would say after I got his attention. I figured he would respond with some witty remark, like he used to. But, he didn't. It was awkward, something me and Eli never were. I took a few steps across the hall towards him, and I felt like my heart was going to rip right out of my chest. When I was standing in front of him I racked my brain for thoughts so this wouldn't get any wore.

"uh, how was your break, Eli?"

Really? was that the best I could do? Eli shrugged, showing pretty much no emotion.

"it was alright, boring mostly."

I nodded, unsure of what to say next. This never happened with us. I didn't like it. Before I could think of anything else to say, Eli started to walk away.

"I have to go see Simpson. I'll see you later."

I nodded, my mouth dry. i'll see you later? is that good? bad? I was overthinking things, I always do. And what did he have to go see Simpson for? I noticed Alli was still standing beside me. I turned to her, probably with the biggest scowl on my face. Alli nodded.

"yes, Clare, that was the biggest trainwreck ever."

I felt my face fall even more as we started walking towards our lockers.

"I just don't get it Alli, I don't see where we went so wrong.."

Alli turned to me when we reached our lockers.

"everything changed Clare. Between everyone. When Fitz almost stabbed Eli, things changed between them, and when you told Eli you couldn't be with him anymore, things changed between you and him."

As much as I hated what she was saying, Alli was right. Eli wouldn't forgive me for that, but he doesn't know why I did that. I grabbed the books I needed for my first class and said goodbye to Alli. When I walked through the doors of my class, I saw my name scribbled across the board.

**Clare Edwards: report to Simpson's office.**

My heart lurch forward. Eli was just in there. were we in trouble? would they suspend us? or even worse, expel? I turned around and walked out of the classroom. I didn't know what else we could get in trouble for. Simpson already knew everything. He probably just wanted to talk to me. Maybe match up stories with Eli's. I walked through Simpson's door, and my breath hitched in my throat when I saw Eli. As I sat in the seat beside him, he didn't look over at me, or even acknowledge my presence once.

"Hi Clare."

My thoughts were ripped away from Eli as Simpson spoke to me.

"um, hi Principal Simpson."

I was still completely confused. I didn't know why I was here, or why I was with Eli. It was hard for me to concentrate with Eli sitting so close to me.

"I'd like to talk about the consequences of some of the acts you two committed before break."

I glanced at Eli as Simpson started talking about all the events that had taken place just a few weeks ago.

"Clare, the stinkbomb was completely unnecessary…"

I stopped listening to Simpson as he rattled off about how we could have avoided all of these events. Eli and I both landed ourselves with a suspension. I was absolutely livid! Why was I receiving a suspension? All I did was set off a stupid, harmless stinkbomb! Eli poisoned Fitz! I didn't harm anyone, I should just get a stupid detention. I walked out of Simpson's office side-by-side with Eli and I muttered,

"this is all of you fault."

Eli grabbed my shoulder and turned me so I was facing him.

"all my fault? Clare, none of this would have happened if you hadn't set off the stink bomb. Fitz and I would have fought, maybe gotten a detention, but I wouldn't have almost gotten killed. You should have minded your own business. I can fight my own battles."

I could feel the tears coming on. I couldn't think straight.

"why didn't you answer my calls Eli? my texts?"

I didn't care that this was completely irrelevant to what he was talking about. I needed to know. I needed closure.

"because, Clare, I don't want to be with you. You're not good for me. All you're doing is hurting me."

The tears started pouring out. I knew that was going to be the answer, but it hurt more hearing it, having it confirmed, rather than thinking of it in my head. I turned around, my hands covering my face, running towards the door. I heard Eli walking after me, but I didn't stop.

"Clare, wait…"

I pushed the doors open and stood out in the sunlight, tears streaming down my face. I ran towards the road. I ran down the street, past all the cars noisily making their way through town. I ran throughout the traffic, hearing the screeches of their tires around me. I kept running, I kept crying, not sure of where I was going.

* * *

**sorry the chapters are kinda boring guys, i'm having writers block & things are crazzzzy. i promise it'll get better (: review please!**


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